Cassiopeia
by AshleeMalfoy
Summary: Harry receives something unexpected from Dumbledore, which sends him back in time to unravel the mysteries of his past. HPSS No slash. R
1. Something of his Mother's

A/N: This is my latest story. Please review. I only got one review for my last story, but I've read back over it and decided to fix up some of the grammar with the help of my beta.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

"I'll come back to see you on your birthday Harry," Dumbledore said. "I have something important for you," he added cryptically.

"What is it?" Harry asked anxiously.

"I can't tell you til you turn 16," Dumbledore answered. "It's from your mother."

Harry felt a thrill of excitement go through him. His mother? What could Dumbledore have of his mother's?

"Now I must be off," said Dumbledore, "You know, things to see, people to do…wait, no…that's no right. Anyhow, give my regards to the Weasleys."

"But wait!" Harry said, "What is it you have of my mum's?"

"Patience, Harry. On your birthday…" And Dumbledore disapparated into the night.

What could it be? Harry wondered. Would it help him fight the war? He would be grateful for that, but he hoped it would be something more personal. He only had a few mementos from his parents. He had his father's cloak, the photo album Hagrid had given him in his first year, and, of course, his mother's eyes. He couldn't wait to see Dumbledore again.

Harry woke up early on the morning of his birthday, anticipating Dumbledore's arrival. Looking around to see what had woken him, he noticed Ginny standing in the doorway.

"Hi Ginny," he said, glancing at his clock, "It's 6am, what are you doing here?"

Ginny smiled and blushed slightly, "Yeah, um…I…about that…"

"So anyway," said Harry, realising he didn't really mind Ginny being in his room, and trying to think of a good conversation starter.

"Happy birthday!" Ginny said, stepping closer to Harry. She tripped on Harry's Sneakoscope, causing it too fly out of its sock and land with a hollow thud of Ron's head. Ron woke too see Ginny, now lying on top of Harry, on Harry's bed.

"It's not what it looks like!" Harry assured him hurriedly, but Ginny made no attempt to get up.

After an awkward pause, Harry said quietly to Ginny, "This is the part where you get me off."

Ron rolled over and put his pillow on his head. Harry blushed, "Um…I mean, get off me."

Ginny rolled off Harry and lay beside him on the bed. Another awkward pause followed. Harry tried to fill it with conversation.

"Um…so…Dumbledore's coming to see me today."

Ginny looked at him oddly, wondering if their relationship was more than just teacher and student, "What's with you and Dumbledore anyway?"

Harry lay in bed late at night, wondering why Dumbledore hadn't come. Had he forgotten? Was he caught up in important Order business? Or had something _happened_ to Dumbledore? Suddenly, Harry's worries were interrupted by a knock at the door. He sat up and groped around in the darkness for his glasses. He put them on, and saw a tall figure silhouetted in the doorway.

"Professor Dumbledore!" he exclaimed, "I thought you'd forgotten."

"Have I ever let you down, my dear boy?"

"Well…there was that time-" Harry began.

"It was a rhetorical question," Dumbledore informed him hastily, "Now, to the matter at hand."

Dumbledore held out a small, brown envelope. "You might want to be alone when you open this," he warned, "Its contents may shock you."


	2. The Truth

A/N: Thankyou to everyone who reviewed my last chapter, or added it to their favourites: _Nieablack, animegurl088, zafaran, cazza31 and Serpent91._ If you add this to your favourites or alerts, please review as well. Love Ashlee

Disclaimer: I on't own HP.

* * *

Harry crouched in the darkness of the Weasley's attic clutching the letter tightly. He had managed to chase the ghoul out of this corner, which left him some room to think. He wondered what Dumbledore had thought would shock him so much. He wanted to read the words his mother had written, but at the same time, he didn't dare. Finally, hands trembling, he broke the seal. He slid out piece of brittle yellow parchment, and began to read the neat, flowing handwriting of Lily Potter. 

_My dear child,_

It began

_In case anything should ever happen to me, I believe you should know the truth. I have entrusted this letter to Dumbledore, to give to you when the time is right. I only hope you will never have to read this, but nothing is certain in these troubled times._

_You are not Harry James Potter. After you finish this letter, you will find that you are wearing a disguise amulet. This amulet was created to hide your true identity from not only your adopted father James, but from your real father as well._

_Your true name is Cassiopeia Angelica._

_Lots of love from your dear mother, Lily._

Harry stares at the letter, trying to comprehend what he had just read. He had hoped to receive something personal from one of his parents, but he hadn't expected anything like _this_. It simply couldn't be trueJames Potter _had_ to be his father. He had always been told he looked just like James. _Because of the disguise amulet,_ said a little voice in his head.

Dumbledore must have known, Harry realised. He'd said that the letter would shock Harry, so Lily ust have told him what was written in it. Why hadn't Dumbledore told Harry? He had talked to Harry about his father occasionally, and never once thought to mention that he didn't mean James Potter. Didn't Dumbledore feel he was mature enough to cope with the information?

He looked down at the letter again, and this time, two words jumped out at him: Cassiopeia Angelica. It was a girl's name. He was a girl. That, at least, made a bit of sense. He'd always liked to wear girls' clothes. In private, of course. He'd stopped after Ginny had caught him in the Weasleys' attic, where he'd found a box of old dresses. The same box he was sitting on right now, in fact.

Harry read over the letter one more time, before he finally convinced himself that what it said was true. He knew he couldn't deny it any longer. It just seemed to fit that he was really a girl, and besides, he could feel the weight of the disguise amulet hanging round his neck.

He pulled the amulet out from under his pyjama top and looked at it closely. It was a round, silvery stone. It looked plain enough at first, but as Harry studied it, he realised it seemed to glow from within with some kind of deep magic. The magic which had changed him from Cassiopeia Angelica into Harry James Potter. And, if he took off the amulet, it would change him back again.

But did he really want to take it off? He knew that once he did there would be no going back. Even if he could put it back on and change back into Harry, he would know that he was, in fact, Cassiopeia. If he took off the amulet, he wouldn't be able to deny that this was true any longer. And then he would need to know who his real father was, and why his identity had been hidden.

Even with these doubts, Harry knew he had to find the truth about his past. He clutched the amulet tightly, ready to slip it over his head.


	3. An interruption and a startling change

AN: I hope you like this chapter. It's a bit short, but an exciting one is coming up next. To all of you who read this, add it to your favourites and alerts or author alert me, please review as well. I love reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, though I wouldn't mind owning Draco...Sadly, he's not in this story. Maybe the next one,. 8D

"Harry!"

Harry jumped in surprise, hurriedly dropping the amulet back beneath his robes. He looked up to see Ginny standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked curiously. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I..." Harry paused, trying to think fo an explanation. He wasn't sure he was ready to tell anyone who he really was yet. He wanted to prove that it wasn't an elaborate joke first. "I couldn't sleep. I came up here to...to do stuff," he finished lamely.

"To do stuff? Harry, stop hiding something from me. I saw Dumbledore leaving your room. And..." she stopped, taking in his surroundings, her eyes resting on the box he was sitting on and the pink frilly dress poking from beneath the lid, "Have you been crossdressing again?"

"No! No," Harry assured her. "It just...I just needed some time to think, that's all. I'm..." he tried, once again, to think of an excuse, "I just wanted to be alone."

"Okay, okay. If you want to um...have late-night meetings with Dumbledore and dress up as a girl, that's your buisiness."

"But it's not like that!" Harry protested. Finally, he resorted yelling at her, in the hope that she would leave. "LOOK, I'M THE CHOSEN ONE AND I'M SUPPOSED TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM VOLDEMORT!!! IT'S MY FAULT SIRIUS DIED!! IF WE HAVE A WAR, THERE'LL PROBABLY BE HUNDREDS OF OTHER PEOPLE DYING FOR ME TOO!! EVERYONE EXPECTS ME TO HAVE A SOLUTION TO THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS. CAN'T I JUST HAVE SOME TIME ALONE? AFTER ALL _**IT'S MY LIFE!!"**_

Ginny backed quietly out of the room.

Realising that now they'd heard him yelling, the Weasley's might have woken and come to investigate, Harry set off to a more private room. He headed down the hall towards the Weaslet's bathroom, and swung around the sign on the door to a side labelled 'Do not disturb.' He took a deep breath, and tried to regain his conviction to remove the amulet. Now that he'd been interrupted once, it was even harder to convince himself to take it off. At last however, once again with the reminder that he could always put it back on, he pulled the amulet over his head.

Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, he turned to face the mirror. It took him several minutes to convince that it was worth opening his eyes. He doubted that he'd even changed at all. Then, however, he noticed the weight of long hair pulling on his head. He opened his eyes and gasped, taking in what he saw.

Gone was the short and scrawny teenage boy. The image before he was blurry, so he removed his glasses and found he could see perfectly without them. The same emerald green eyes stared back at him, but rather than from a thin, pimply face, they looked from a smooth oval face with perfect, blemish-free skin. His hair was no longer untameable. It fell in a glossy sheet of silver-blonde silk, done past his thin waist to his perfectly curved hips. In fact, he noticed - or rather, _she_ noticed - he had curves in all the right places. He was still the same height, but his pyjamas no longer fit him properly. All the proportions were wrong. He _- she_ - made a mental note to find some appropriate clothes if he planned to stay as a girl for much longer. he wasn't sure if he wanted to yet, so he bundeled the amulet up in his pocket and twirled around, admiring the new Harry. No, not the new Harry. A new person all together. Cassiopeia Angelica.


	4. Sorry to everyone for this

I'm really sorry to all of my awesome readers, but I'm not going to continue this story. I've lost all my documents about it - plot plans etc. - and I'd neglected it for a while, so I can't remember what I was going to write.

Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing, or adding this to their favourites etc. Once again, I'm really sorry. If anyone sends me plot ideas, I might be able to continue.

Soz  
Ashlee


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